Rotary scrapers are well known devices for treatment of a work surface, particularly those scrapers employing springy wire elements. In conventional rotary scrapers, the wire elements are pivotably mounted about a shaft which is parallel to the rotational axis of a hub of which the shaft is a part. Upon hub rotation, the wire elements strike and abrade the work surface with sufficient force to remove surface material. United State Patents on various forms of such rotary scrapers have issued; see for example: U.S. Pat. Nos. 188,132 to Haskins; 674,384 to Nash; 1,475,074 to McLaughlin; 1,694,018 to Mudge et al; 1,856,299 to Alphen; 2,523,319 to Middlestadt; 2,990,884 to Hall et al; 3,061,860 to Bennett; and 3,958,294 to Thompson.
All the rotary scrapers described in the above patents have flexible scraper elements with rather short working lives. The flexible or bladelike elements break when they are repeatedly flexed at high speed during used of the scraper in close proximity to a working surface over an extended period of time. Their working lives are too short for heavy duty industrial use. In many of the prior scrapers it is difficult or impossible to interchange and replace a broken springy element. In almost all the prior scrapers it is difficult or impossible to interchange the springy elements with others of different widths and thicknesses to perform different functions. Prior scrapers lack versatility since they cannot quickly and easily be adapted to perform different functions such as polishing, brushing, light duty abrading, heavy duty scraping, surface preparation for painting, etc. Some prior scrapers are limited to use on certain materials such as wood, metal, or concrete. When used for scraping surfaces for which the prior scrapers are not designed, they gouge the surfaces, remove excess material or not enough material, and generally perform unsatisfactorily.